Niina Koskela

Niina Koskela (born 8 August 1971), married from 2004 to 2009 as Niina Sammalvuo, is a Finnish chess player. In 2006, she was the first Finnish woman to receive the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a three-time winner of the Finnish Women's Chess Championship (1990, 2002, 2008). Since 2012, she has played for Norway.^[1]

Niina Koskela
Koskela in 2009
Country	Finland (until 2012) Norway (since 2012)
Born	(1971-08-08) 8 August 1971 (age 54)
Title	Woman Grandmaster (2006)
FIDE rating	2199 (May 2023)
Peak rating	2312 (April 2003)

Biography

Koskela was a participant in numerous Finnish Women's Chess Championships, won three gold medals (1990, 2002, 2008) and three silver medals (1989, 1992, 1994).^[2] In 1991, in Subotica, Niina Koskela participated in Women's World Chess Championship Interzonal Tournament and ranked in 34th place.^[3] In 2000, Niina Koskela participated in Women's World Chess Championship by a knock-out system and in the first round won Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi but in the second round lost to Nana Ioseliani.^[4]

She played for Finland and Norway in the Women's Chess Olympiads:^[5]

• In 1990, at second board in the 29th Chess Olympiad (women) in Novi Sad (+4, =4, -5),
• In 1992, at second board in the 30th Chess Olympiad (women) in Manila (+5, =5, -4),
• In 1998, at second board in the 33rd Chess Olympiad (women) in Elista (+7, =4, -1) and won individual bronze medal,
• In 2002, at first board in the 35th Chess Olympiad (women) in Bled (+6, =6, -2),
• In 2004, at first board in the 36th Chess Olympiad (women) in Calvià (+6, =6, -2),
• In 2006, at first board in the 37th Chess Olympiad (women) in Turin (+6, =6, -0),
• In 2008, at first board in the 38th Chess Olympiad (women) in Dresden (+4, =2, -3),
• In 2014, at fourth board in the 41st Chess Olympiad (women) in Tromsø (+5, =4, -0).

Koskela played for Finland and Norway in the European Team Chess Championships:^[6]

• In 1992, at second board in the 1st European Team Chess Championship (women) in Debrecen (+5, =3, -1) and won individual silver medal,
• In 1999, at first board in the 3rd European Team Chess Championship (women) in Batumi (+1, =3, -4),
• In 2003, at first board in the 5th European Team Chess Championship (women) in Plovdiv (+3, =2, -3),
• In 2007, at first board in the 7th European Team Chess Championship (women) in Heraklion (+1, =1, -2),
• In 2015, at second board in the 11th European Team Chess Championship (women) in Reykjavík (+3, =4, -1).